Latest Windstorm Headlines

All the headlines from our Windstorm Topic Page, ordered by recency.

‘100-Year Storms’ May Happen Every 3 to 20 Years

Mar 5 2012 // Last August, Hurricane Irene spun through the Caribbean and parts of the eastern United States, leaving widespread wreckage in its wake. Many hurricane analysts suggested, based on the wide extent of flooding, that Irene...

2011 an Exceptional Year for Tornadoes

Mar 5 2012 // While 2011 marked the fourth deadliest year on record for tornadoes in the United States, Texas was spared tornado-related fatalities and recorded fewer-than-average number of such storms. Not so in Alabama, which led all...

U.S. Should Expect Another Above-Normal Tornado Season

Mar 5 2012 // The U.S. should expect an active severe weather season with above-normal tornadoes in 2012. That’s after a near-record number of tornadoes in 2011, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.com in State College,...

Tornado Season Begins. Now What?

Mar 5 2012 // Tornado season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months, but it got off to an early and deadly start in late January when two people were killed by separate twisters in Alabama. Preliminary...

Insurers Face Huge Losses from Latest Deadly Tornadoes

Mar 3 2012 // Less than a year after a series of tornadoes caused some of the worse insured losses in U.S. history, the insurance industry is likely facing substantial costs again after storms killed at least 33 people on...

Death Toll, Damage Mount from Tornadoes in Midwest, South

Mar 3 2012 // Across the South and Midwest, survivors emerged Saturday to find blue sky and splinters where homes once stood, cars flung into buildings and communications crippled after dozens of tornadoes chainsawed through a region of...

Tales of Chaos After Deadly Pre-Dawn Midwest Storms

Mar 2 2012 // Jeff Rann had ample warning that terrible weather was approaching before dawn. A frantic call to his wife from his mother-in-law alerted them to reports that a tornado was barreling down, and Rann heard the deafening wail...

Storm Damages Missouri Country Music Resort Town, Kills 9

Mar 2 2012 // AP Photo: The News-Leader, Dean Curtis A powerful storm system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes and lashed the Midwest early Wednesday roughed up the entertainment resort town of Branson and laid waste to small...

Storm That Hit Branson Was 22-Mile Tornado

Mar 2 2012 // The National Weather Service has confirmed that the heavy damage in the southwestern Missouri town of Branson was caused by a 22-mile-long tornado. The agency’s office in Springfield said an EF2 tornado with maximum...

Storms Blamed for 4 Deaths, Widespread Damage in Midwest

Mar 1 2012 // A powerful storm system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes lashed the Midwest early Wednesday, roughing up the country music resort city of Branson and laying waste to a small town in Kansas. At least four people...

Storm Damages Homes in Indiana Town

Mar 1 2012 // A possible tornado swept across the Ohio River town of Newburgh on Wednesday, damaging several homes in the community’s historic riverside district as a powerful line of thunderstorms cut across the Midwest,...

Forecasters Unsure What to Expect This Tornado Season

Feb 27 2012 // Tornado season is starting, but don’t ask meteorologists how bad it will be this spring and summer. They don’t know. They’re having a hard enough time getting a fix on the likely path of storms expected...

Tornado Chasers Prepare for High Season

Feb 24 2012 // With the month of March looming, United States tornado chasers are already watching the Southeast as a nasty storm brews with the potential to spin off a batch of tornadoes. But if funnel clouds develop Thursday or Friday...

Texas Regulators Looking at Ways to Restructure Windstorm Pool

Feb 23 2012 // Texas insurance regulators are seeking a consultant to explore options for restructuring the insurer of last resort for properties along the Texas coast. The Texas Department of Insurance has issued a request for proposal...

2011 an Exceptional Year for Tornadoes

Feb 23 2012 // While 2011 marked the fourth deadliest year on record for tornadoes in the United States, Texas was spared tornado-related fatalities and recorded fewer-than-average number of such storms. Not so Alabama, which led all...

U.S. Should Expect Another Above-Normal Tornado Season in 2012

Feb 21 2012 // The U.S. should expect an active severe weather season with above-normal tornadoes in 2012. That’s after a near-record number of tornadoes in 2011, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.com in State College,...

Alabama Governor Wants 1 Year Tax Holiday for Storm Supplies

Feb 16 2012 // Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has proposed a once-a-year sales tax holiday on weather radios, flashlights, generators and other supplies needed to help prepare for weather disasters. Bentley made the proposal at a news...

PERILS Estimates Windstorm Andrea Property Losses at $350 Million

Feb 15 2012 // According to PERILS, the Zurich-based catastrophe data provider, initial loss estimates for property losses caused by windstorm Andrea, which struck Western Europe at the beginning of January, are €267 million [$350...

100-Year Storms May Happen Every 3 to 20 Years: MIT-Princeton Research

Feb 15 2012 // Last August, Hurricane Irene spun through the Caribbean and parts of the eastern United States, leaving widespread wreckage in its wake. The Category 3 storm whipped up water levels, generating storm surges that swept over...

Conn. Governor Proposes Boosting Storm Preparedness

Feb 10 2012 // Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s revised $20 billion budget funds several recommendations from a panel that examined the response to the remnants of Hurricane Irene and the freak October snow storm. The plan...